Thursday, May 5, 2011

Bent lower inboard link bolt

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Worked on the Lotus today. Goal was to get the LH suspension built up same as the RH. First challenge: my funky spring compressor. Turned out the solution was easy, remove the short strap, cut a couple feet off the long strap, and use that to tie the ratchet to the spring. Worked great. Exiting when tension is released because it lets go with a bang.

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While I was attaching the lower links I discovered the front lower link was cocked aft. A closer look revealed that the bolt is bent. This is the 10 in. long 0.5 in. bolt that runs through the frame. So I ordered a new one from Dave Bean.

I also worked on the anti-roll bar. Clamped the end in a big vise, and me and Carl pushed and pulled. The shock mount hole needed to move inboard 1.5in. Got it.

Had to drop the front bottom cover plate to work on the suspension bolt. Looked for rust, didn't find much. Will hit it with Metal-Prep followed by brushed-on Rustoleum. Oh, and all that hardware needs to be replaced, with stainless.

posted from Bloggeroid

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